State of the Union address: Prudent limits set on use of drones, says Obama

Says US must move away from a permanent war footing to give diplomacy a chance.

WASHINGTON:

President Barack Obama on Wednesday said he had imposed ‘prudent limits on the use of drones’.

The US president, during his annual State of the Union address on Wednesday, sought to draw a veil on past policies, after he said that his administration had set limitations to the use of drone technology – a hated symbol of US power in some countries.

Obama also said that the US must move away from a permanent war footing to give diplomacy a chance to resolve some of the world’s toughest problems, such as the nuclear standoff with Iran.

“The fact is, that danger remains,” Obama warned, adding the US had ‘to remain vigilant’ in face of changing global threats.

“While we have put al Qaeda’s core leadership on a path to defeat, the threat has evolved, as al Qaeda affiliates take root in different parts of the world,” he said, highlighting hotspots like Yemen, Somalia, Iraq and Mali.

He also called on the Congress to end restrictions on moving prisoners from the US military jail in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“With the Afghan war ending, this needs to be the year Congress lifts remaining restrictions on detainee transfers and we close the prison at Guantanamo Bay,” Obama urged.

Obama also pointed to recent diplomatic successes under Secretary of State John Kerry such as moves to rid Syria of its chemical weapons and the resumption of Middle East peace talks.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2014.